Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, Lolita Review and Swatches

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

Fellow bloggers, and even non bloggers, have you ever bought a product, kind liked it when you first got it, let it sit in the vanity for a while, and every time you reach for it you come up with all these reasons not to wear it? I had that moment with these lipsticks. When i first got them i was jazzed about them. They have their issues but i was still happy just because Medusa's Makeup finally released lipsticks. In my hype i think i gave them just a bit more credit, in my mind at least, than i think they really deserved. While these lipsticks i am about to review are not the worst, i think had i done this review when i first received these, it would have leaned a little more hype than realistic.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

Back in 2006 when i was really starting to apprecaite differnt types of makeup i stumbled upon an ad for a brand of cosmetics called Medusa's Makeup. With bright pigments, shadows and glitters, and me trying to be a scene queen or whatever i thought i was at the time, just "HAD TO HAVE IT!". The funny thing is the quality of those products, was and still is, pretty darn great. This was in a time when drugstore cosmetics offered products that were beyond boring (aside from the holy grail of collections- the Winter 2006 Revlon collection where i went to Duane Reade and spent 300 dollars buying it all....). Medusa's makeup filled a void that other brands couldn't. Just about 6 years later they release lipsticks and to be blunt- I had to be all up on that.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

The colors range from fun shades like magenta and  hot pink and orange, to vampy shades like dark purple and blood red. The box is a bit on the goth side showing what looks like an intricate window with the logo of the eye in the middle (Medusa's gaze can turn you to stone if you look at her). I think it goes well with the brand. On the top of each box is a color preview square along with a little white spider in the corner. The tubes themselves are black with a rose design on the top, i used to love black roses so i kind of adored this in a nostalgic way, and i am sure anyone who went through the inner teen angst of the late 90's early 2000's may appreciate that as well. The tubes snap closed and have a design raised on the cap part of the tube and the base. The base features the logo in white and the bottom reads the name of each color.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

 The formula is where this product really starts to lack. Though not the worst i have ever experienced but certainly not anywhere near good. Many of the shades are quite sheer. They need to be significantly built up on the lips and can become very streaky as a result. The website was lacking in details as to what these shades looked like so i was pressurized to find out that some were a bit metallic or shall i say "frost" like in finish. I wanted to assume that this was intentional but after looking at the brand as a whole - bright, bold, in your face - having a lipstick that is so sheer does not make much sense and was not advertised as such. Though not all shades had this issue (see individual shade reviews) i was shocked over this. I would have liked to see a matte formula or even just a more pigmented cream. I don't think i could ever imagine someone uttering - "I need a very sheer and streaky purple to wear to that concert where that (insert unknown band name) is playing". If i am completely wrong please tell me so in the comments section below. There is a slight scent that leans sweet to almost soapy.


Undead- A sheer, metallic,  streaky, violet purple. This shade bleeds into the outer lips, is very streaky, lacks pigmentation, lasts only about 2 hours on the lips, and take caution when wearing without liner. Though a pretty shade this requires entirely too many swipes on the lips for coverage. The swatch below is five swipes on the lips.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead

 Skid Row- Metallic magenta. Not as sheer as undead but still needs to be built up on the lips. Also is not as streaky and does not bleed like undead. Can be worn without liner and has ok pigmentation. Would be great over a magenta liner to add a frosty finish.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Skid Row

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Skid Row

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Skid Row

 Triple X- A creamy hot pink. This shade has the best pigmentation over all. Applied creamy and opaque in just two swipes. Lasted about 4 hours on the lips before need of reapplication. No bleeding or streaking. Very smooth and creamy texture.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Triple X

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Triple X

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Triple X

Rio- Creamy bright orange. This shade was also one of the better preforming lipsticks in that it did apply creamy and nearly opaque. It did have sheerness to it but not as bad as undead or skid row. This shade applied creamy and had no streaking.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Rio

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Rio

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Rio

Lolita- Creamy blood red. This shade has to easily be the worst of them all. What i expected to be a rich and opaque, rich, goth, red turned out to be nothing more than a streaky, sheer, under pigmented, excuse for a lipstick.  I have sheer lip balms with more color than this lipstick. This "lipstick" requires a minimum of 6 swipes back and forth on the lips to achieve color. Had this been labeled a lip sheer or the equivalent i would not be as shocked. I am surprised that Medusa's Makeup had the gall to release this.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Lolita

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Lolita

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Lolita

Since my lips are a bit pigmented on their own i figured i would give you some arm swatches for comparison. Both the lip swatches and arm swatches were taken in the same light. You can see how sheer just one swipe of each lipstick is.

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

Medusa's Makeup Lipstick in Undead, Skid Row, Triple X, Rio, and Lolita

Overall the only lipsticks that are really redeeming of this collection are Triple X and Rio. I find most of these lipsticks  to be lacking severely. They are described as having color rich pigment. The person who understands what color rich pigment must have went on vacation the day after Triple X was made. I think this is my harshest review to date and am still in stock over how back these lipsticks apply. There are no swatches on the site and no color description. Save your money and only buy the shadows because these lipsticks are the biggest letdown.

Ka'oir Glitsticks The Grand Keyshia Kaoir Rip Off- How To Recreate the Look

This is probably going to be my angriest post to date. I have been a huge fan of Ka'oir cosmetics for quite some time. Beautiful, bold, amazing lipsticks, lip pops, nail polishes and even eyeshadow. Keyshia Kaoir (formerly Dior) has built an empire of beautiful cosmetics that reviled brands as big as MAC. So when she started to mention Glitsticks, naturally, her fans got excited! Ka'oir already had a gold and silver Glitstick which was a lipstick that had glitter in it to be applied over other colors in her collection or just bare on the lips for some extra sparkle. That is what was assumed her new Glitsticks would be just with different colors applied over her existing colors. This, regrettably, was not the case, what she released was so disappointing that i needed to dedicate an entire entry to it.

So what was released? Small pots of micro glitter. Yes, simple, cheap, find it anywhere, cosmetic grade microglitter. Now let me just mention for all of those who do not know about Ka'oir, it is an internet only brand. This means that if you are looking for cosmetic grade microglitter, and you are online, you can find it literally anywhere. I will include a list of links and locations of where to find it at the end of this post. What also really grinds my gears is the two actual, true to their name, "Glitsticks", were removed from the site altogether. Perhaps it was a play on words, like glittery lipstick, but the lipstick and glitter are separate so it makes no sense.

 My point to all this? Keyshia Kaoir decided it was time to snub her fans by putting out an over priced microglitter which she claims will, magically, only work with her products. Don't believe me? Check out this piece of marketing crap. So not only does she put out some basic and common glitter she puts out a tutorial video as if her customers are stupid and not aware of how to add glitter to their lips. Seriously? I have been putting glitter over lipstick since high school. While some people may not have known how to do this, or thought of it, that is no reason to over price an item and take advantage of your fans/customers.

For $12 you can purchase one pot of cosmetic grade microglitter, or for $26-$28 you can purchase a lipstick and a Glitstick. This is extremely over priced. What is worse is that since she claims these only works with her lipsticks i guess that gave her the ability to raise ALL her prices. I just shook my head and thought what the heck is going on here! I guess all that lobster and gold watches leave you hard up in the wallet so you dip a little more into ours. I understand that she has redone all her tubes for her lipsticks and lip pops but i never asked for that change and shouldn't have to front a dollar more for everything just because you wanted to change things up. You aren't keeping it fresh you are keeping it stupid.


:: bangs head on table ::
Ok where was i? Oh yes, since i am so outraged i figured i would show anyone who is even CONSIDERING buying her over priced glitter please check out these dupes and instructions so that you do not waste your money.
FYI- I do love the pigmentation of her lipstick along with the application.


Instructions:
1- Apply lipstick to lips swipe a little extra on and make sure it is well defined. Use a clear liner if nessicary. This works with ANY LIPSTICK so long as the color is not matte or glossy. Satin or cream is the best
2- Using a sponge applicator dab it gently into your glitter.
3- Press your tongue against your lips to make them flat and stretched out, i suggest starting with your bottom lip.
4- Dab the glitter on. DO NOT RUB. You will need to dip your applicator into the glitter many times. Start from the center of the bottom lip and go out to the corners. Do the same for the top lip. Do not press lips together. Do not bite lips. Do not rub lips together. 
5- For this to last for a long time use straws with beverages.

I will make a video on this soon.

This is Claire's glitter that will be used in most of these pictures.

To recreate Pool Party-
Use Claire's Cosmetics body glitter in Blue over Ka'oir Pool Party Lipstick

 To recreate Virgin-
I used white iridescent glitter from Claire's body glitter over NYX jumbo eye pencil.

To recreate Red Roses-
 I used Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate Moss number 11 with Claire's glitter in red.

To recreate Raquel-
I used Lime Crime D'Lilac with Claire's light purple glitter over it.

The white reflections are all natural with no edit!!!

The white reflections are all natural with no edit!!!

 To recreate Rude Girl-
I used Lime Crime Airbourn Unicorn with Claire's dark purple glitter over it.

disregard le boyfriend's hand.

To recreate Goldengoddess-
I used Covergirl Blaststick Lipstick in Minx the gold side with Claire's gold lipstick over it.

To recreate Night-
This color is the only one i did not have a black glitter as close to the color she is selling available to me in my collection. However there are black glitters available and they will be in the links section below.  For this look i used Estee Lauder Gunmetal with Medusa's Makeup AK47 glitter over it.

Blurred it looks like sequins.

 To recreate Mistress-
I used Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate Moss number 06 with Claire's pink glitter over it.

If you are looking for cosmetic grade micro glitter please check out these links!
Medusa's Makeup- Has every single color of glitter your heart can imagine! $7 dollars each, 5 dollars during their manic Monday sales!
TKB Trading- This site sells mica and glitter and other supplize to make your own makeup or use as pure pigments. Prices are as low as $1 dollar.
Cartwright- Sells glitter for cosmetic use as low as 4 dollars!
Claires- in store you can find glitter pots.
Costalscents- glitter as low as $1.50

Just to drive my point home- Ka'oir buys wholesale and in bulk meaning that her products are even cheaper in worth than the examples i have here, just imagine her profit. I get that she is a business woman but she is sticking up her customers, and i personally am boycotting.

Will you be purchasing her "glitsticks"?